National Briefing | Washington: U.S. Refuses To Intervene On AIDS Drug Price

Published: August 5, 2004

The government refused to intervene against a rapid price increase for an AIDS drug, Norvir, deciding not to override patents on the treatment in an effort to force a lower price. Patients' groups and some members of Congress had pushed the National Institutes of Health to take the action, accusing the drug's maker, Abbott Laboratories, of price gouging. Abbott more than quadrupled Norvir's price late last year, to $8.57 a day from $1.71.